1976 Topps #231 - Tom House

• Tom House pitched for three teams from 1971-1978. He was famous for catching Hank Aaron's 715th home run in the Atlanta bullpen. Tom was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 1967. He pitched in the minors (mostly for AAA Richmond) from 1967-1972. Tom had late season call-ups in 1971 (1-0, 3.05 ERA in 11 games) and in 1972 (0-0, 2 saves, 2.89 ERA in 8 games).

• In 1973 House appeared in 52 games and was 4-2 with a 4.68 ERA. He had his best season in 1974. Tom made 56 appearances and had 11 saves, a 6-2 record, and an ERA of 1.93. Tom also had a good year in 1975 -- he was 7-7 with 11 saves and a 3.18 ERA in 58 games. After the season House was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Rogelio Moret.

• House had some injuries in 1976 -- he missed a month from late July-late August and had a couple of other shorter interruptions. Tom was 1-3 with a 4.33 ERA and four saves in 36 games in 1976. He had a slow start in 1977 (1-0, 12.91 ERA in 8 games) and was sold to the Seattle Mariners on May 28. The Mariners tried Tom as a starter and he made 11 of his 22 career starts. He was injured again, this time from early August - early September. All together House was 5-5 with a 4.64 ERA in 1977.

• The 1978 season would be Tom's last one in the major leagues. He had more injury problems -- he pitched only once in a 5-week period late in the season. He was 5-4 with a 4.66 ERA in 34 games (9 starts). House didn't make the club in 1979 and was released toward the end of spring training. He appeared in two games in 1983 for AAA Las Vegas, but that was probably a case of a coach being used for emergencies.

• After his playing career Tom earned a PhD in Psychology and became a pitching coach. During his Hall of Fame induction speech, Nolan Ryan credited Tom with having a positive influence on his career. House was the pitching coach for the Texas Rangers in the mid-late 1980s and later coached for the Houston Astros and the San Diego Padres. He is an advisor with the American Sports Medicine Institute and is the co-founder of the National Pitching Association. Tom has written or co-written 19 instructional books on baseball. Tom has his own website
  
  House admitted to using steroids for "a couple of seasons" in the 1970s. He said that it was a failed experiment that didn't add anything to his fastball but did cause some knee injuries due to the extra bulk.